Physician referrals are integral to improving care managing patient outcomes through diagnostics, such as imaging and testing, and specialized treatment. One in three patients is referred to a specialist every year; referrals make up half of all outpatient visits.1 But, providing a patient with a referral doesn’t mean that they actually schedule an appointment to receive care. In fact, nearly 20% of patients don’t follow up on their doctor’s referrals to specialists, research shows, and that number rises to 50% among older adults.2,3 Plus, almost half of all referring physicians don’t even know if patients actually see the specialists to whom they were referred.